Who writes this guide?

Having lived in Lille since I was a child, I've watched the city change, reinvent itself and grow, and I've ended up knowing a fair few of its corners.

Living in Vieux-Lille, welsh and carbonnade are second nature by now. Whether it's the estaminet La Vieille France or Au Vieux de la Vieille, it's always a pleasure to go back. But Lille isn't only Flemish food. I'm just as fond of Asian cooking, Thai, Vietnamese or Korean, and there's plenty of choice here for every taste.

And then there are the bars. They're probably what I know best about this city; my student years are catching up with me. The good addresses are on the bars page.

Why this guide?

Watching tourism grow year after year, the idea came to build a proper site in several languages, to help a wider audience coming from far away who want to discover Lille and its good spots.

Lille is an hour from Paris by train, which makes it well worth the detour. And that's before you count Brussels, Ghent, Bruges or even London. Lille sits more or less at the centre of that area, where everything is about an hour away.